Press Release

BIOS Access Now Available In Cloud Computing Service

As enterprise cloud computing adoption grows, the pre-boot sequence (BIOS) still remains an important part of many application configuration requirements and IT administrators’ needs. For some, moving to the cloud means losing control of this important hardware feature that occurs just before an operating system loads onto a virtual machine. Today ProfitBricks, the price/performance IaaS leader known for disruptive use of technology, returns this capability back into the hands of IT administrators by enabling BIOS-level access for all its virtual machines.

Boston, MA, 02/26/2014 –&nbspFor decades, on-premises installations meant application developers and systems administrators had access to this pre-boot sequence, whether it was for easing asset management, helping to recover from failure, or fine tuning systems for performance. The move to the cloud meant losing access to this important level of control, as cloud providers only offer administrative credentials to a server only once the operating system has loaded.

“Our virtual machines look and feel more like the bare metal, all instances include dedicated CPU cores, dedicated RAM and now BIOS-level access just like the physical servers that IT admins are used to, except they get all of the advantages of cloud computing from the price/performance leader,” said ProfitBricks Co-founder, CEO, and CTO Achim Weiss. “We want to give our customers as much control of their virtual data center as they would have in a traditional on-premises data center, but without the hassle of the capital expenditures and never-ending hardware maintenance. With this new feature we’re making cloud computing an even more attractive alternative for the enterprise.”

Through ProfitBricks’ pioneering graphical user interface, the Data Center Designer, customers can observe and interrupt the pre-boot sequence of a virtual machine as it starts up. Access is available to the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) where Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) configurations can be customized and API access is given to the Basic Input/Output Operating System (BIOS).

Later in the pre-boot process, the multi-boot loader GNU GRUB is also accessible, allowing system administrators to execute tasks like entering different recovery modes and conducting memory tests, all prior to the guest operating system being loaded.

Pricing and Availability

Pre-boot control is available on all ProfitBricks instances immediately and the price is included in its industry-leading cloud server costs.

ProfitBricks

ProfitBricks – the IaaS price/performance leader who introduced Cloud Computing 2.0 – offers more speed, flexibility and value than any other cloud provider. Founded in 2010 by the co-founders of the 1&1 Internet Web Hosting business, ProfitBricks enables customers to build true virtual data centers with custom defined instances, live vertical scaling and class-leading double redundant cloud storage – all with simple and transparent minute-based billing. ProfitBricks also developed the first graphical Data Center Designer that makes the ProfitBricks cloud computing service the easiest to set up and maintain. Recently CRN named ProfitBricks one of the coolest Cloud Providers of 2014, and ProfitBricks was named to CIO Review’s 20 Most Promising Cloud Computing Companies. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany and Boston, Massachusetts, ProfitBricks can be found online at www.profitbricks.com.

With ProfitBricks, developers can access the well-established REST API. Using this API, cloud computing developers and operations professionals can automate their multi-cloud IaaS processes by utilizing such popular current libraries as jclouds, Libcloud, Fog, and Python SDKs - which are all supported libraries at ProfitBricks.

These APIs assist you in leveraging the rich features and options offered by ProfitBricks. Even the ProfitBricks Data Center Designer, our integrated graphic user interface was built with the API.

Access the ProfitBricks APIs

Access ProfitBricks Support for Popular Cloud Libraries

ProfitBricks offers support for many multi-cloud libraries that include: jclouds, Libcloud, Fog, and more - these popular libraries enable developers and operations pros to automate their cloud infrastructure across multiple clouds or migrate applications and workloads from one cloud to another.

Access ProfitBricks Support for Popular Languages with these SDKs

ProfitBricks offers many SDKs, including the popular PythonSDK that abstracts and provides complete coverage for all current API functions; the library is very specific to ProfitBricks and exposes advanced functionality you may not find in a cloud-agnostic library.

For the most current information on the SDKs we offer, check the DevOps tools here.